U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,608 discloses a child-resistant package that includes a container having at least one external thread segment adjacent to the container mouth and an external deflectable locking element spaced from the container mouth. The closure has a peripheral skirt with a first portion having at least one internal thread segment for threaded engagement with the container, and a second portion frangibly connected to the first portion with a locking element for engagement with the deflectable locking element on the container. With the second portion of the closure skirt connected to the first portion, the package is adapted for child-resistant operation requiring deflection of the locking element on the container to release the closure for threaded disengagement from the container. When the second portion of the closure skirt is removed by a user, the closure may be merely threaded on to and off of the container in a non-child-resistant mode of operation. A general objective of the present disclosure is to provide a child-resistant package, closure and container that are adapted for snap-cap operation in a non-child-resistant mode.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects or inventions that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A child-resistant package, in accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, includes a container having an open mouth, a conical external surface around the open mouth that widens away from the mouth and a wall extending from the conical external surface. A closure has a base wall, and a peripheral skirt having a first portion adjacent to the base wall and a second portion removably connected to the first portion. An annular first wall extends from the base wall at a position radially inward from the skirt for spring/sealing engagement with the conical external surface of the container. A second wall extends from the base wall at a position radially inward from the first wall and, preferably, at an outward conical angle to the base wall. The second portion of the skirt and the wall on the container have interlocking elements that resist removal of the closure from the container in a child-resistant mode of operation absent a force against the first wall to disengage the interlocking elements. The second portion of the skirt is frangibly removable from the first portion to remove the interlocking elements from the skirt so that the closure is securable to the container in a non-child-resistant mode of operation with the second wall received by snap-fit within the container mouth.